


my world ends with you

by kurotsuno



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, TBA - Freeform, groundhog day prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 00:26:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16169828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurotsuno/pseuds/kurotsuno
Summary: Tsumugi Aoba always knew he was an unfortunate person, but he didn't know his misfortune would spread to others. At least, not like this.





	my world ends with you

It's really a normal day like any other. Tsumugi discovers Natsume is doing something he probably shouldn't in the library, and the younger boy threatens him to seal his lips. An endearing process, in a way. Somehow, he does something to piss off Natsume-- or, he thinks he's pissed him off? He's not too sure. Either way, he begins yelling off about something that will soon become irrelevant. And Tsumugi takes it, as he normally does. It's repetitive. Not that it's terrible to be in such a rhythm, but, somehow, Tsumugi misses the spark of difference that gaped in his life.

* * *

 

"Senpai, you reALLY should take better care of Yourself." The words startle the delicate boy as they leave Natsume's lips. ..what were they talking about, anyway? He'd spaced out. "I take wonderful care of myself, Natsume-kun--" "LiAR." The manner in which he hissed a single word through his teeth chilled Tsumugi to his core, furthering his general uneasiness. "Huh?" "If you don't stop being such a pushoVER, people woN'T take you seriouSLY." He blinked twice while being scolded. Every so often, Natsume says something kind to him, not without a quick wit, but this time.. it felt as if he was genuinely worried. Not that it didn't feel that way sometimes, it just.. felt more so now. "..." Natsume shot him an expectant glance, and apparently Tsumugi'd zoned out once more. "You're right, I'm sorry." His apology bounces right off the other boy as he paces out of the library. Did he really upset him that much..? Even if he just offered atonement, an insistent feeling nagged him to go check on his underclassmen. 

And so he does. Even from miles away, strands of Natsume's flaring hair emit a signal that anyone with eyes could detect. "Natsume-kun...!" The hallway was seemingly crowded, and Tsumugi felt as if he were floundering around in a the midst of the sea. However, as he wallowed through the masses, Natsume still turns around. Even if he was upset with him, he still turned to face him. Another student bumped into another face in the galoshes, and sent an umbrella soaring in the air. Tsumugi notices a warm smile pasting on his lips as the other boy's eyes meet his. The way his gaze softens, yet tries to firm itself, it always coaxed Tsumugi. He sighs in a breath of heavenly sweet air, and feels his shoulders unheave the tiniest smidge.

It's a kind exchange, until those golden, glimmering eyes of Natsume's widen dramatically, and lower from his vision. And almost, suddenly, the students around him disappear. He faintly hears some he recognizes scream out to the boy who just collapsed, but no voice echoes more than Tsumugi's. Blood squirts out of Natsume's neck, as if he was a fire hydrant that had been swung open. The umbrella point lodged into his throat needles down to the crimson soaked floor underneath them, and in a blur, Tsumugi's cradling Natsume as more liquid gushes from his wound. He tries to speak, but ends up gargling on his own blood. The sound is absolutely horrid, and as much as he hates it, Tsumugi can't get it to leave his head. It reverbs, over, and _over_ again. He doesn't know what happened. _He doesn't know why this happened._ As Natsume's eyes flutter to a close, Tsumugi scarcely notices the salty sting in his own.

* * *

And Tsumugi wakes up. He wakes up trembling, sobbing, and clawing his own face to delete the imagery of Natsume dying from his mind. It felt real. _It felt so real to him._ His phone screen illuminates the time, and the day. February 2nd. 6:30 AM. He huffs. It was just a excruciatingly terrifying dream. Well, a nightmare, actually, but he's not nearly conscious enough to differentiate at the current moment. It haunts him, the noise of Natsume choking on his blood. The sea of people around. Honestly, he should have noticed it was a dream sooner, but it was so lucid that even if it was nonsensical, somehow it made sense? 

He blinks twice, peering once more at his phone. 6:34 AM. It's early-- he knows that-- but, Tsumugi still yearns to get a head-start. Maybe it was the illusion motivating him? Who knows. In any case, sometimes Natsume slept over at the school. Maybe today was one of those days, and going early wasn't a terrible idea? Any excuse is enough for him as he groggily fumbles around his nightstand, eventually grasping his glasses. In the mirror, he's a mess. Dark indents cascade underneath his eyelids, and even his spectacles can't mask that much. Did.. did he always look this hellish? His hair was matted, and once he thrust a comb into it, it poofed back into his hand, already intertwined within his blue locks. Tsumugi sighs idly.

After dragging his feet enough, he eventually emerges from his living quarters, and begins his route to school. His mind swirls with brief thoughts. But, no matter where it lingered, it always fell back to the nightmare. Why had he had one about Natsume dying? Maybe he was stressed out. Tsumugi thought about Natsume often. Mainly about his conditions. Tsumugi wasn't that oblivious. He was aware Natsume's family wasn't in the best conditions. He remembers what Natsume doesn't; the howling arguments, the fist-fights between dropping Natsume off. If things were that bad in public, how terrible were they really behind closed doors? He mulls back to when Natsume confided that he was forced out of his house often. The recollection causes Tsumugi to frown. Why did Natsume find it so normal? The more he tried to wrap his head around Natsume's attitude towards that, the more flustered he became. Tsumugi wanted to help Natsume, even _save_ him, from what he knew had to be overwhelming situations for the other boy. 

And then Tsumugi smacks headfirst into a street pole. His recoil is sharp, and he kneads his palm into the center of impact moments after. Well, that was certainly a sign to stop obsessing over so much. Afterwards, Tsumugi focused on the pavement ahead of him, even absentmindedly counting the lines and overall squares of the sidewalk. He continued in this fashion until he arrived at school. There's only a handful of people inside, but it's enough to make him feel claustrophobic as he traversed to his communal area. After shoving open the door to the library, he feels his tension ease once he spots Natsume snoring on a stack of books. The scene implants a faint smile to his lips, and he can't help but chuckle lightly to himself as he observes the other boy's sleeping patterns. Hesitantly, Tsumugi smears his hands on his face before briskly tip-toeing over to Natsume. Once he's in front of the boy, he kneels down and cozies himself beside Natsume, the sound of the other boy softly breathing soothing him. Natsume was alive. They were both alive, and he was grateful for it.

* * *

 "SenPAI..?" Tsumugi is stirred out of his sleep as Natsume jostles him to consciousness, and Tsumugi instantly recalls the nightmare he'd had that morning. "SenPAI? You knOW, taking naps during schoOL hours isn't a good idEA." The two make eye contact, and Tsumugi blankly glances into Natsume's golden eyes, which return a rather confused demeanor. The older boy is stunned for a few moments, but quickly latches onto Natsume, arms dangled around the other's waist in a sloppy embrace. "S-SenPAI?" This motion actually managed to catch Natsume off guard, and he scrambles his hands to sheath Tsumugi's, almost yanking his digits off before Tsumugi buries his head in Natsume's stomach. "Natsume-kun.." "WhAT?" The younger boy's voice cracks terribly, and Tsumugi doesn't know if he's heard it that distorted before. "I'm so glad you're alive." "WhAT are you sayING all of the SuDDEN, SEnPAI?" Speech is garbled as Tsumugi's hold on him strengthens, and he squirms out of the reach, or tries to, before reclining a few moments after. 

The two retain this soft hug, or semi-hug, for a short period of time, before Natsume wriggles once more. "SenPAI, I neED to Go." "Go?" "YeaH. EmperoR callED for mE." Emperor..? Wait, he didn't mean-- "Why did he call for you?" "He just said he waNTED to discuss somethiNG." Tsumugi still doesn't let go of Natsume. "SenPAI, you'RE being more bothersOME than usUAL. Did somethING happEN?" His mouth falls agape, as if he wants to scream out and tell Natsume all his fears, all the worries he buries while pining for him. But he doesn't. He seals his mouth once more, and shakes his head gently whilst backing off the embrace. "It's nothing, haha.." The other boy hardly buys it, but he doesn't exactly have a choice with time restraints. Natsume slithers out of Tsumugi's grasp finally, and stands up. "I'll see you later, SenPAI," His red hair flairs as he stoutly paces away, "Feel better soon." He murmurs the last bit, but Tsumugi still gets it in earshot.

He told him not to worry, and the only thing he does, in fact, is worry. Why did Eichi want to meet with Natsume? Their history wasn't exactly great, but even so, it was way too suspicious. He knew how terrible and cunning Eichi could be, and how easily manipulated Natsume didn't realize he really was. It only steadily further his uneasiness. Maybe he should go check on Natsume? No, wait, what was he thinking? Natsume is his own person, who likely doesn't need Tsumugi trailing him like a stray puppy. Even knowing that, he felt as if he could be sick at any moment while perpetually dangling on the await of the other boy's return.

* * *

Tsumugi doesn't know how, but now he's outside. He's in the wonderful outdoors, glancing every nook and cranny for a glimpse of a trace of Natsume. Is this considered stalking? No, it shouldn't be. Tsumugi isn't a stalker. He doesn't regularly follow Natsume or anything; just on this one day he's searching for him. He almost gives up as soon as he starts once he recalls the secret burrows around the academy, knowing that Natsume could get anywhere at any speed he wished. A few more minutes pass, and Tsumugi fetches his phone out of boredom and curiosity. It's 1:32 PM. God, did he really sleep for that long earlier? That might have just been the best sleep he's had in a long while, actually. He plurks the thought into his mind again, unconsciously smirking upon the gentle noise of Natsume's heaved breathing reverbing in his mind. Tsumugi dreamily sighs.

He just about turns and goes in, but something catches his attention, and through the lenses of his glasses, he squints to make out two figures on the rooftop. The more his focus adjusts, the more details he detects, the prominent one being.. red? Red hair. His heartbeat fastens. Natsume's on the roof. All of this worrying for nothing.. Someone else is with him, though, and Tsumugi tenses once more when he makes out the second figure to be.. Eichi. The two appear to be having a general conversation, but something concerning the circumstances nags at Tsumugi. It makes his nerves jump, his stomach bubble with anxiety. Tsumugi shuffles his feet, peering down at the ground for a few moments. Why is he.. so unnerved? 

A piercing scream echoes throughout the courtyard, and Tsumugi's vision pools back to the direction of the noise. Natsume almost looks angelic as he skyrockets, further and further below, wailing at the top of his lungs. It was uncharacteristic, almost, as if he was actually panicking. ...Oh god. _Oh god_ , Natsume's crashing down. From.. from off the roof.. Tsumugi cranks back into high gear, sprinting over to where he thinks Natsume's going to land. He doesn't know. _This can't be real._ His arms outstretch in an attempt to catch the other boy, but he hurdles a few inches shy of Tsumugi's grasp. A horrid crunching emits from Natsume as the bones in his body contort upon impact, blood rushing from every open crevasse of him. Tsumugi doesn't even notice it, but both of them are hyperventilating. He assumes Natsume is dead, already far gone, and drops to his knees. His gaze shifts from the younger boy, to the roof from which he'd plummeted, and he scarcely spots a warped smirk of an overly satisfied nature plastered on Eichi's lips as he walks off. Before Tsumugi even retains the time to dwell on the matter, Natsume's 'corpse' shifts slightly, startling the older boy. "Ts.. tsum.. Tsumugi..?" His voice is a croak, and with one word uttered, Tsumugi instantly phantoms the immeasurable amount of pain Natsume's in. "Natsume-kun, I--" He begins, but halts once Natsume's back ceases heaving motions, all breath escaped from him.

* * *

Tsumugi howls when he's awoken this time. He notices immediately he isn't even in his bedroom anymore. He's.. in the library? Was it another nightmare here? Today was unbelievably cruel to him, huh? With a groan, he shifts, and Natsume practically pounces on him. "S-SenPAI? Are You okAY?! You were scrEAMING." A genuine tone of concern swept over Natsume's expression, and it makes Tsumugi almost uncomfortable. All he can do in response is weakly nod, and the other boy sighs. "Senpai, you reALLY should take better care of Yourself." ..wait, hadn't he heard this before? It was a sickening sense of deja vu, and as Natsume continued, Tsumugi scraped at his own knuckles. "If you don't stop being such a pushoVER, people woN'T take you seriouSLY." Word for word, breath for breath, syllable for syllable; the statement mimicked the nightmare Tsumugi had prior that morning. 

Natsume once again shot him an expectant glance, and while he lay, stunned, the other boy turned to walk away once more. As the clatter of his footsteps vibrated the floor, a hand grappled onto his wrist, as Tsumugi coiled his digits around Natsume to halt him. Instantly, the younger male glanced back at Tsumugi, his glare dusting down once he spotted how fervently desperate his gaze was. Something was wrong, and Natsume swallowed down a lump as Tsumugi's lips parted finally. A moment of hesitation surfaced, but the older boy shattered past it, mustering his voice up to softly speak.

"Natsume-kun, I think you're going to die."


End file.
